London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos. Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

Tens of thousands of Londoners face being hit with a “mansion tax” on homes worth more than £2 million under a banded system imposing heftier levies on the more expensive properties. The Liberal Democrats and Labour are backing imposing an extra tax on wealthy homeowners, the vast majority of whom live in the capital or the South East.

Carpetright has warned for the second time in four months that profits will be lower than expected as the struggling flooring specialist revealed its Netherlands business would fall into a loss for the first time.